Reactor



April 11, 1950 E. v. BERGsTRoM REACTOR I 3 `Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 27, 1946 rllI lNvENToR E/P/C l/.BERGJT/EM April 1l, 1950 E. v. BERGSTROM 2,503,703

REAcToR Filed April 27. 194e s sheets-Sheet 2 lNvr-:N-roR ERM K BERGST/POM April l1, 1950 Filed April 27, 1946 E. V. BERGSTROM REACTOR 5 Sheets-Shree?l 3 Patented Apr. 11,- 1.950

UNITED STATES PATENT -OFFICE Y vRACTRI Erc V. Bergstrom, Short Hills',y N. J., assigfnor-'to 1 Socomf-Va'cixum-4 Oil Company, Incorporated, a corporation of New York .f

Application April 27, 1946", SerialNd 665,604'

4 Claims. (CL 23-284) invention `relates to apparatus for contacting a gas with a solid and is particularly concerned-with a chamber for conducting Va short time, high temperature-reaction by introducing gaseous or vaporizable liquid reactants to a body fof highly heated granular solids;` `The"inv'enftion--is particularly adapted to'` high temperature: cracking or hydrocarbons by contactingivi-th highly .heated granular.. solids followed kby prompt auencl'iingof Athe reaction mix.- 'ture to inhibit further .reaction .or substantially Areduce reaction velocity. A typical. example of such. :reaction ,is the "cracking of higherboiling .hydrocarbons' :at :temperatures on the order of I.1500" F.. abo-ve to producelarge yields .of unsaturatedcorrr-pounds such as ethylene. .Gas oil .and reduced, crude are readily cracked at 1500* F. to giveyields in the neighborhood` of 30% by zweight ot ethylene if the reaction time is .held ',to a-sumciently short .period to inhibit Asecondary reactions 4such `as condensation `.to v aromatic hy-v drocarbons. Similarly, propane and ethane .give high yields -of ethylene at reaction temperatures .of 17.00- E. or thereabouts but the reaction time must be kept'very short'i'n order to inhibit secondary reactions.4 When charge hydrocarbons are introduced into a bedv of hot granular -solids 'to be thereby heated to reaction temperature, the vaporous reaction mixture tends to flow along the shortest .possible path to the disengaging sur'- "f'ace at which it leaves contact with the hot solids. Since a short' reactiontime is desirable, the use 'of a bed of commercially practicable dimensions requires careful design to provide substantially equal paths through the-solids for the several portions of thel charge and thus 'maintain a uni- 'form reaction time. According t'o the concept described in my copening application Serial No. L657,591, led March 27, 1946, this desirable result can be achieved vby supplying the hot granular 'solid onto a sloping divider in the reaction chamfber. This results-in a-moving'bed of hot granular .solids having a sloping upper surface lying at 'the angle of repose of thes'olids' employed.l The :charge is introduced ata plurality of points of constant'distance from' the upper surface off'the :bed and the path of contact between reactants and solid is thus maintained substantially constant for all portions of the charge.-

The present inventionv constitutes. an improvement over the invention described 'and claimed in the aforesaid' application. Inorder to insure satisfactory operationiit is desirable that a gas which does not itself undergo-arcachon yinxthe solid bed shall be introduced `alt .a llow point-fin 1 2 the bed to' purgey reactant -vapors from the bottoni of the bed and cause suchA vapors toy move upwardly' and outo'f' the bedv by Way of the top surface thereof. According to the presen-t invention this result is achieved 'and flow of reactant material to the interior of a deflecting insert is inhibited by flowing a gas such as steam to the interior of the deiiecting insert and providing means for distributing such gas through the body 'of 'thebed from the interiorof 'the insert'. It Will beread-ily 'understood that reactive compositions `s'uclra's hydrocarbons' would be rapidly converted toa hard,-dense; ecky deposit if permitted to flow to the interior of' 'the'A insert and there remain static at the elevated temperatures of the reac tion'. Essentiallyl the inventioncontemplates a re#- action chamber having a granular solid inlet at 'the 'top .thereof and a sloping defiector insert directly below the inlet to cause the granular solids to flow as a moving bed having a sloping upper surface of' predetermined. nature depending Aupon the angle of' repose of the solids. Distributing inletsv are vspaced in thebed below the sloping surtaceat a constant depth With relation to the upper surface of the bed to thereby provide ,aunitorm, path ot gasfsol-id con-tact. The deflecting insert insures that all the contacting space shall.. be beside the sloping surface; that is, there .shall be vno contact directly. below' the granular .solid :inlet Where the contactpath would not be ythe same `as in thev other portions of the bed. The ydeflecting insertl .extends down through the whole dept-hof the bed :and a gas such as steam is-ad-mitted. to the interior oi' the insert, preferably vunder .a pressurev somewhat above that prevai-ling inthe contaotingizone. This purging gas .iis .distributed through ythe lower portion of the bed from 1a low point in the .deiiector insert and purges hydrocarbon vapors from the body foi-solids :and inhibits downward flow of the reactant vgases from: .the distributor inlets.

Preferably, theyfdepth of bed in the contacter :below the reaotant inlets shall be sufficiently greater than 'thehdeptlr of bed above 'the inlets hthat :substantially lall vof the reactant vapors Will tend to 'flow' upward due to the greater pressure drop opposing downward vilovv. Steam appears to aid: materially in the :cracking vof hydrocarbons 'to olefins although it 'does not seem that Water :vapor actually enters :into the reaction. Other l,inert gases 'be' .usedas the purging medium 'butxsincersteamlisfully'zeiective for this purpose is used: the actual :reaction `zone' vtoI promote the desired reaction, steam is preferred as the purging gas.

The annexed drawings show apparatus for the cracking of hydrocarbons to ethylene including the contacting device of this invention.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic showing of the vrelationship of the several elements making up a plant for this purpose;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through a contactor and quencher and the communicating conduit therebetween;

Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 2; and

'. pressuring pot 29 or water may be sprayed onto Figure 4 is a detail view in section of the reactor outlet part.

Referring specifically now to Figure 1, a hotA granular solid is heated to a suitable high ternperature in heater I and transferred by feed leg II through a steam sealing zone I2 to a reactor I3. A charge for the reaction is introduced by a plurality of inlet tubes I4 depending from ring manifolds I5 at the top of the reactor. The number and spacing of tubes I4 is such as to give uniform spacing of the discharge openings at the bottom ends thereof, depending on the size and shape of the cross-section of reactor I3. A typical structure has an internal diameter of the reactor shell (50 in Figure 2) of six feet, nine inches with a delecting insert having an outside diameter of two feet. Three concentric rings of tubes I4 contain 11, 18 and 23 tubes, respectively. The charge may advantageously be a liquid oil, mixed with liquid water, to generate the hydrocarbon and steam vapors desired for the reaction.

Alternatively, hydrocarbon and steam vapors may be generated outside the reactor and charged thereto as a vapor phase mixture. Preheating of liquid charge to any desired degree will depend upon the heat balance factors involved, such as the desired temperature for granular solids withdrawn from the bottom of reactor I3.

Within the reactor I3 the charge is passed in direct contact with the highly heated granular solids and is thus rapidly converted to a vapor phase mixture having the temperature desired for the reaction. Upon leaving the contact bed, the reaction mixture is quenched by the injection of water supplied from inlet I6 and is passed by conduit I'I to a quencher I8 wherein it is passed through a moving bed of relatively cool granular solids for further reduction of temperature. The quenched reaction mixture is transferred by line I9 to a spray condenser 20 from which product vapors are taken overhead by line 2| to a suitable gas plant for purification and recovery of the gaseous products of the reaction. Oil and water from the bottom of condenser are passed to a settler 22 wherein they separate into an upper oil layer which is cooled in heat exchanger 23 before transfer to processing or storage and a lower water layer which is cooled in heat exchanger 24 to be recycled in part to the spray condenser by line 25. If the charge to the reactor is in liquid phase, water fromthe bottom of settler 22 may be used in the charge since contamination of the charge water has no detrimental effect in such operations, the contaminants being either vaporized with the water or deposited on the granular solid from which they may be removed by burning in the heater.

Returning now to the reactor I3, a purge gas such as steam is admitted to the bottom of the reactor at inlet 26 and a pressuring medium, which may also be steam is admitted at inlet 2.1

to be used ina manner to be hereinafter-de-` the solids entering the housing of elevator 30, in

which case the elevator shaft acts as a stack for the withdrawal of steam so generated. Solids are discharged from the top of elevator 30 into a 1 feed pipe 3l, passed through a classier 32 for feed leg II.

removal ofparticles broken down to a size smaller 'than that desired and are then fed to heater I0 to again v'pass through the cycle. In the heater fuel from inlet 33 is burned in pre-heated air supplied at 34 to generate a `iiame in direct contact with the solid granules 4and thus heat the latter to the desired degree. Flue gases are withdrawn at 35 and passed to an economizer or stack.

The quencher is an element of a similar cycle of granular solids and wherein the granules serve to cool vaporous reaction mixture from reactor I3 and are then purged bylsteam admitted at 36 and passed by pipe 3l and depressuring pct 38 to an elevator 39.` From the top of elevator 39 the solids are discharged by pipe 40 through a classifier 4I to a hopper 42. Solids are supplied 'through feed leg 43 to an airpreheater 44 wherein they are contacted with air from blower 45 to preheat the same. `The preheated air is then transferred by line 46 to inlet 34 of heater I0. Any carbonaceous deposit in the nature of coke or tar laid down on the solids in the quencher I8 will be burned 01T in vheater 44 but a large excess of air is supplied to chamber 44 and the net effect is to cool the solids in chamber 44 whereupon the cold granules vare transferred by feed leg 41 through a steam purging zone 48 to the quencher As shown in Figure 2,`the reactor I3 comprises a reaction shell 5U within an insulated casing 5I. Granular solids from feed leg II fall into the steam sealing element I2 and form therein a 4small heap of granular solids. Steam is admitted above the heap of solids from pipe 52 under a vpressure greater than that existing in either the heater or the reactor to thus prevent any mixing of vapors from the elements connected by From the steam sealing chamber I2 the solids move downwardly through the bottom portion of feed leg I'I into the reactor I3 wherein they fall onto a sloping divider insert 53 and are thereby diverted to the contacting region of the reactor, none of which lies directy1y below the outlet'l of feed leg II. Within the shell 50 thegranular solids take the form of a moving bed of granular solids having an upper surface which lies at about the angle o'f repose about the solids. It may be noted that the flow .of gases upwardly through the bed has an effect on the angle of repose of the solids depending upon the gas velocity. As the gas velocity approaches that at which the granular solids would be suspended in the stream of gases, the angle of .repose approaches the horizontal. This is an important element in determining how the charge inlets shall be disposed within the bed a will appear hereinafter.

n iountedv for. vertical, movement .through stuffing bQXCS- 54- and.' Sealing flanges.; 5,5 in the top. of. shellY 50. To obtain uniformity votcontact pathv within.; thel bed. ,ofL granular solidsl the several pipes. I4. areI adjustedj to havetheir lower ends: at. a constanty depth. below; thej upper. surfacev of the bedin shell.-50.. In. the; embodiment` here:

shown, thereactor. I3fisoircularin geneialout.-v

line. wherefor l the.. upper.. surfacef of. dividing; in.- sert.` 53.. the upper surface..of. themoving, con-V tact badi` and the surface.'along which. the out.- lets. of, pipe .I 4 areiarranged are'generally conical.

Itwill be readily understood that other. outlines., may be v,adopted .i or reactor .I ,3 inv which .case .thesef surfac es .will `be. ,of la. different. nature.

rIhebed. in,react orI I3 .is. considerably'deeperA than that necessary, to: accommodate-I the. con--y tacting. Zone. above.. the discharge of, pipes. I4.

Sinne of the heavier-hydrocarbons may remain.

onV the granular .solid` forv` a` substantial. distance below the pipes. I4' before they become fully,

vaporized. Any vapors,y Whether. formed in-.

stantaneously or substantially below the pipes I 4 are causedto pass upwardly through. the bed and arev broughtv to. maximum. temperature in thevr region abovetheends of. vpipes I4 vwhere `the solid has not yet beenchilled by directcontact with charge. hydrocarbons. A deep bed offers.

fairly high resistance to the passage of hydrocarbons. downwardly,4 thus: encouragingy flow, of

gasesthroughthepath,of least resistance to the top of theV bed.. Additionally, provision ismade for an inert gas such. as` steam. to sweep upwardly. through the bed. This latter. result is. achieved by injecting steam or the like below. aplate 55 throughorices 5'Iin the wallof the..

divider insert` 53.. Steammnder. pressure somewhat in excess ofthat'prevailing inthe contactingzone is admittedlto the interiorof divider insert. 53' by. means. of pipe 58.. The steam pres-r sure inside insert 53 effectively preventsleakage.- of. hydrocarbons. to this space thus inhibitingv deposition of coky` matter. from .extensive crack.- ing of hydrocarbonsn inside the insert., A number of feed pipes 59 depend. from plate 56 for. the. withdrawalof granular-solids yina uniform manner across theinterior of shell 50. Each one ofv the pipes 59, withdraws solid frornaspace diA verging.4 upwardly therefrom and the-1v greater the numbers oflthese: pipes,..the;less will .be the lvolume of.. dead spaces whereinzthe. granular solids` are not flowing,y Aplategli hasforices 6I spaced so; that.` each ofthe oriiices 6 l. draws equally from twoor. more pipes, 59-.thus equalizing theow among. the-.pipes.55). The symmetrical arrange-- mentof orifices,- 61| about the center of p shell 5I) results in uniform. withdrawal from these orifices by outlet pipe 62.

6, materialsbeingcarried..fmmthereactor into the; elevator to. thus. cause-la firer hazardi The space between the insulatedcaising;Skandi; the vshell .50 is.alsa-placedunderfanfinent .gas lapressure slightly in excessa'ofathe pressuredni the con.`

)tasting zone by.` admitting steam or the likef throughinlet 21.. Thetpressurez-of thesteam will; be such that steam will--iiowfslowlyintorthefcasing l from.v the .spacethereaboutthrough: any opener ing; which might. permit leakage. 'lines chance?v that. hydrocarbons.- willseep out; into the insular tion or tothe spac.eaboutshellrisithus effecf tively overcome.

Amanifold for \withdrawf of reactant vaporssisi provided above-thewbedfoftcontact material by the;n top wallgof shell; 5&vand aplate fhayingolicesi. 64` through which .theffpipese Iii` are passed. The? orifices 64 act :to throttle,disengagedavaporsfrisingiJ from the .contactbedand thus aiord: .66111345 flour.;P into thefmanifold `from theiyarious. areasraboye';r thebed. For examp1ethe -orices; 6,4 mayl bei of such area as to provide a uniformzlinear ve@r locity. of 100 ft. persecond through: the orifices and the manifold. The manifold-is;connectediti the conduit I 'I' by ay slidingjointcompr-isingytn flange, 65 at the outletof4 the manifold-,andrai collar Bty on an. insulated pipe', 6.1. which defines: the transfer linebetweerrneactorfI3nand quencheerv I8. The water for preliminary.- qllnchinggmay beadvantageously, admitted. at, this; point,..a s-z, by means of a', sprayf 6,8'. facing inf thergdretionzofri vapor flow. l

The transfer line. between .theafreactorf and `thequenches. is. subi ect toshigh; thermal fstressesl-andi is .-therefore. advantageously mounted.y and* cons-2 nected in the manner shown. TliecollanA 66:15; slidably mounted onther-reacton end; of;V pipe; 61 and; contacts@ the latter.` along; a relatively; small surface :such as integral. ring ,696 Atpair ofguidesf. 10 mounted; onl the; flange 65 maintain the: faces of collar. 66. in cont'actw-ith flangegl aiong;the'-.-

oir'the.; bed and undergo-fthe; desired craclrinif.:4

This.t also.` minimizes; the danger@- of;` combustib.le;.

relatively small .areal of the raised. ring 13| Then guides I0 are preferablysdformed.that theypexw; mit some fplayfof" the 1 collarl 6.0s from sidal to sidef but. maintainafairly firm Contact.loetvvoen ringz I I Y andv flangehiil Thereg-is :thus1 provided azcona nection between they manifoldzand. the; pipe.z 6:1 which permits-relative; movement:I of :pipef 6T with:4 respectrto flange oyerfaaconsiderableYdistanceaf in any direction; withontsubstantial. eiect upon!lthe nature of.; the connection; No, attempt is; made toprovide.fapvaporetight connection at this-.1 pointl sinceA the steam pressure, imposed; betweeni shell 5l!` andgcasingl wilhpreventthe lossv'oi` reactant .vapors at'thisipoint.l

, In the insulated-space between-,theapipel and; a metal wall 12 areA disposed .ar.plurality.;offwebs;` 'I3 disposed atan-angle torthepipel 6.1 tomaine`A` tain the spacing ,between thefpipe. :and: thefmetalf. wall. The inner I ends-Q of f these: websffare .adapted-z to t fairly closely, toi the outersurface: of: pipe;l 65| but 1 are not secured thereto; whereby,` the piper, 65|- mayk slide through.. thea webs; undenthe in-s iiuence of thermal expansion. The; webs; are iplaced at an acute angle to the pipe 61 inorder tofsubstantially reduce. the :temperaturefdifferentialperunit of lengthandithus cut down theA heat lossqby conduction alongthe; webs 13. It," will be noted that-aisimilarztypeofl connection is' madeat 'I4 on theyreactor feed leg, The webs:y 'I3iserve another function in reducing the flow of inert pressuring gas from the space about .shell 50i intoyfthe quencher; |81. The Vpressuredrop through: the gap. betweenztheiendof a web I:13; and the piper- 68 is substantial;v .anchvery1- littl'ee pressuring s gast will flow between the pipe 61 and its insulation due to the several high pressure drop gaps thus imposed in its path.

' At its end remote from reactor I3, pipe 6'! is connected to a manifold 'I4 for distributing gas in the quencher I8. A plurality of headers I extend from each side of the manifold I4 and a plurality of drop pipes 'I6 depend from each of the headers I5 into a body of relatively cold granular solid in the quencher. Granular solid from the air preheater enters the quencher through feed leg 41 and falls onto a plate 'I'I from which depend a plurality of feed pipes 18, supplying cold granular solid to the contacting zone below manifold '14. As shown, the contacting zone is enclosed by a shell I9 and an inert pressuring gas such as steam may be admitted by pipe 80 to the space between shell 'I9 and an insulated easing 8|. Quenched reaction products are withdrawn from quencher I8 by an outlet 82 open to the disengaging space among the drop pipes 'i6 and feed pipes 78.

Uniform ilow of solids across the contacting bed in quencher I3 is induced by a number of ow control pipes 83 depending from a plate 84. Purging steam is introduced to the space under plate 84 by pipes 85 communicating with a ring manifold 86 supplied from steam inlet 36. Flow control plates 8'I and 88 function to induce equivalent flow through each of the pipes 83 and thus cause the latter to draw equally from all parts of the contacting bed.

As shown, conventional bellows type expansion joints 89 are provided on the granular solid transfer pipes and other places where the same vare found desirable.

The thermal strains involved in apparatus of this type are well illustrated by application of this apparatus to the cracking of gas oil to produce ethylene. Circulating granular fused alumina having an average particle diameter of 0.3 inch in both the reaction and quenching cycles, 28.1% by weight of ethylene is produced at a mean eifective temperature of 1440 F. and a contact time of 0.29 second. The granular solid is heated to 1575 F. in the heater and enters the reactor at 1546 F. A mixture of 33% steam and 67% gas oil (by weight) is admitted to the reactor at 625 F. with a space velocity of 3.12 volumes of liquid oil at 60 F. per volume of reaction space per hour. A granular solid to oil weight ratio of 11.95 is maintained, using a zone of contact 24 inches deep. The heated reaction mixture is disengaged from the solid bed at 1545" F. and quenched with water to 1200 F., at which temperature it is transferred to the quencher and further cooled therein to 572 F. The quenched reaction mixture is further cooled in the spray condenser to 100 F. and is then treated for recovery of the products of the reaction. Among the liquid by-products are 5.5% of depentanized motor gasoline having an end point of 416 F. and an octane number of 94.6 with 3 cc. of tetraethyl lead per gallon.

' I claim:

\ l. A contactor comprising a vertical shell, an inlet at the top of said shell to supply granular solid material thereto, outlet means to withdraw solid granular material from the bottom of said shell, a hollow deecting insert in said shell below said inlet arranged to deflect solids moving downwardly through said shell from portions directly below said inlet, said insert extending downward in said shell to a point adjacentsaid outlet means, means to distribute a 8 uid across said shell intermediate said inlet and said outlet means, means to withdraw fluid from the upper part of said shell, means to introduce a pressuring gas to the interior of said hollow insert and means to distribute said preS- suring gas from said insert across the lower portion of said shell.

2. A contactor comprising a vertical shell, an inlet at the top of said shell to supply granular solid material thereto, a hollow delecting insert in said shell below said inlet arranged to deflect solids moving downwardly through said shell from portions thereof directly below said inlet, said insert having a sloping top and vertical sides extending downwardly toward the bottom of said shell, a plate extending across the space between said insert and said shell above the bottom of said insert, a plurality of pipes opening through and depending from said plate, means to permit flow of gas from the interior of said insert to the space about said pipes below said plate, means to supply a gas to the interior of said hollow insert, means to distribute a iiuid across the said space between said in-` sert and said shell above said plate and means to withdraw vapor from the upper portion of said shell.

3. A contacter comprising a Vertical shell, an inlet at the top of said shell to supply granular solid material thereto, a hollow deecting insert in said shell below said inlet arranged to deflect solids moving downwardly through said shell from portions thereof directly below said inlet, said insert comprising a vertical cylinder with a conical top, said cylinder extending downwardly toward the bottom of said shell, a plate extending across the space between said insert and said shell above the bottom of said insert, a plurality of pipes opening through and depending from said plate, oriice means to permit ow of gas from the interior of said insert to the space about said pipes below said plate, conduit means to supply a gas to the interior of said hollow insert, a plurality of spaced tubes extending downwardly into said shell with the tube eX- its equally distributed over the cross-sectional area between said insert and said shell in a generally conical arrangement, said tube exits being vertically located to provide a depth of bed below said exits substantially greater than the depth of bed above said exits, and means to withdraw vapor from the upper portion of said shell.

4. A reactor comprising an interior vertical shell, an exterior insulating vertical shell surrounding said interior shell and spaced therefrom, said exterior shell extending upwardly to provide considerable space above the top of said interior shell, a rst partition wall horizontally mounted within said interior shell located near the top thereof to define a collecting chamber, said iirst partition wall possessing a plurality of orifice openings to permit the passage oi fluids upwardly to said collection chamber, a conduit attached to the upper portionof said interior shell adapted to conduct said iluids from said collection chamber outside of said exterior shell, an inlet conduit vertically mounted to downwardly project through the top of said exterior shell to a point within said interior shell below said first partition wall, a concentric hollow shell with an apical top located within said interior shell to spread the flow from said inlet conduit, a conduit through said outer, inner, and concentric shells to permit the passage of inert gas to the interior of said concentric shell, a secondpartition wall horizontally located in said inner shell between said concentric shell and said inner yshell Wall, openings through said second partition wall with short conduits depending therebelow to permit flow therethrough, orifices located in the vertical wall of said concentric shell below said second partition wall to permit the passage of inert gas to the space surrounding saldshort depending conduits, a third partition wall horizontally mounted in the lower portion of said inner shell, orice openings through said third partition wall to permit transfer therethrough, feed conduits projecting through the roof of said inner shell to points of egress located between said first partition wall and said second partition wall, equally distributed across the cross-sectional area of said inner shell, said points of egress having a generally conical arrangement, an outlet passageway located at the bottom of said inner shell and downwardly projected through the bottom of said outer shell.

ERIC V. BERGSTROM.

No references cited. 

3. A CONTACTOR COMPRISING A VERTICAL SHELL, AN INLET AT THE TOP OF SAID SHELL TO SUPPLY GRANULAR SOLID MATERIAL THEREO, A HOLLOW DEFLECTING INSERT IN SAID SHELL ELOW SAID INLET ARRANGED TO DEFLECT SOLIDS MOVING DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SAID SHELL FROM PORTIONS THEREOF DIRECTLY BELOW SAID INLET, SAID INSERT COMPRISING A VERTICAL CYLINDER WITH A CONICAL TOP, SAID CYLINDER EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE BOTTOM OF SAID SHELL, A PLATE EXTENDING ACROSS THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID INSERT, A PLURALITY OF PIPES OPENING THROUGH AND DEPENDING FROM SAID PLATE, ORIFICE MEANS TO PERMIT FLOW OF GAS FROM THE INTERIOR OF SAID INSERT TO THE SPACE ABOUT SAID PIPES BELOW SAID PLATE, CONDULT MEANS TO SUPPLY A GAS TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID HOLLOW INSERT, A PLURALITY OF SPACED TUBES EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID SHELL WITH THE TUBE EXITS EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED OVER THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA BETWEEN SAID INSERT AND SAID SHELL IN A GENERALLY CONICAL ARRANGEMENT, SAID TUBE EXITS BEING VERTICALLY LOCCATED TO PROVIDE A DDEPTH OF BED BELOW SAID EXITS SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THN THE DEPTH OF BED ABOVE SAID EXITS, AND MEANS TO WITHDRAW VAPOR FROM THE UPPER PORITION OF SAID SHELL. 